Performance-based determination of request modes

ABSTRACT

Features are disclosed for determining preferred content request modes for client computing devices when initiating content requests. The request modes may correspond to direct requests (e.g., requests made from a client device directly to a content sever hosting requested content) or to indirect requests (e.g., requests made from the client device to the content server via an intermediary system). The preferred request modes made be based on a statistical analysis of performance data (e.g., prior content load times) obtained from one or more client computing devices for a given content item, group of content items (e.g., domain), and the like.

BACKGROUND

Computing devices can be used to request content from other computingdevices over a communication network. In a common application, a clientcomputing device can request a web page from a server computing devicevia the internet. Browser application software on the client computingdevice typically retrieves a requested web page, processes resourceidentifiers embedded in the web page to generate requests for additionalresources (e.g., images, script files, etc.), and renders the contentfor presentation. From the perspective of a user of a client computingdevice, a user experience can be defined in terms of the performance andlatencies associated with obtaining and rendering the requested networkcontent on the client computing device. Latencies and performancelimitations of any of the above processes may diminish the userexperience.

Optimizations and other improvements may be implemented to reducelatency and otherwise improve the user experience. For example, somecontent items may be cached at a client device, and future requests forthe content items can be fulfilled from the local cache. As anotherexample, proxy servers may be used to cache content for multiple clientsand then pass the content to the clients that originally requested thecontent. Subsequent requests to the proxy server can be served from theproxy cache if the content is present, rather than requiring retrievalof the content from an origin server. As a further example, contentdelivery networks (“CDNs”) can locate points-of-presence closer (ineither a geographic or networking context) to certain client devices.Content requests may be made to the CDN rather than the origin server,and the CDN can fulfill the request more quickly due to being closer tothe requesting device. Some proxy servers and other intermediary systemscan pre-render or otherwise pre-process content prior to responding to aclient request. Such pre-processing enables some of the processingburden to be offloaded from the client device to the intermediarysystem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Embodiments of various inventive features will now be described withreference to the following drawings. Throughout the drawings, referencenumbers may be re-used to indicate correspondence between referencedelements. The drawings are provided to illustrate example embodimentsdescribed herein and are not intended to limit the scope of thedisclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an illustrative content deliveryenvironment including a client device, a content server and anintermediary system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of illustrative communications and data flowsbetween various client devices, content servers and an intermediarysystem.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an illustrative process for generatingrequest configuration information.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an illustrative process for conducting abrowser session using request configuration information.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of illustrative data flows during machinelearning and generation of request decision models.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an illustrative process for conducting abrowser session using a request decision model.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of illustrative data flows and interactionsbetween client devices, a content server an intermediary system.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an illustrative process for generating arequest decision model using data maintained at a client device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Introduction

The present disclosure involves an architecture in which clientdevices/browsers can retrieve some content items directly from origincontent servers, and retrieve other content items indirectly through anintermediary system. The intermediary system may provide content cachingservices, and may also be configured to pre-render or pre-process thecontent such that a processing burden on the browser is reduced. Morespecifically, the present disclosure involves computer processes forselecting, for particular content items (e.g., HTML pages) or domains,the request/retrieval mode or path (direct versus indirect) that islikely to produce the best performance from an end user's perspective.The mode selections may be made by the browser, by a server-sidecomponent (e.g., of the intermediary system), or both, and may be basedon performance criteria related to past requests, current context, orother factors.

Proxy servers generally serve content from a shared proxy cache orproceed to obtain the content from a content server if it is not presentin the cache. Certain third party systems that act as intermediariesbetween client devices and content servers may provide additionalprocessing functionality. For example, some intermediary systemscompress, convert, render, or otherwise modify content retrieved onbehalf of a client device, and provide a processed response to theclient device. Typically, when content is obtained via an intermediarysystem, a client device (or a browser application executing on thedevice) is configured to send all content requests to the intermediary.Such configurations do not provide the ability to determine whether tomake a content request directly to a content server or through theintermediary based on an analysis of performance data or on a predictionof whether requesting the content via the intermediary will improveperformance. Rather, the configurations described above are largelystatic or are otherwise not responsive to the dynamic nature of networkenvironments. For example, static configurations may not provide thebest content retrieval performance in complex network environments, suchas the internet, and in environments with constantly changing resourceavailabilities at the client device, intermediary system, and the like.

Some aspects of the present disclosure are directed to obtaining requestperformance information from multiple client devices that requestcontent using different request paths. Such data can be used todetermine whether request performance (e.g., content load time or someother metric) is better when the client devices make content requestsdirectly to content servers, or when the content requests are made viasome intermediary. Client devices (or browser applications executingthereon) can be configured to record performance metrics regarding eachcontent request made from the device, or some subset thereof. Forexample, a client device may request a particular content item directlyfrom the origin server that hosts the content item. A different clientdevice may request the same content item, but instead of requesting thecontent directly from the origin server, the request may be made via anintermediary. Each client device may record data regarding requestperformance, such as the total time it took to load the content asmeasured from transmission of the request until display of the fullyrendered content item. The client devices may transmit the performancedata to an analysis system, such as an analysis system that is part ofor associated with the intermediary system. The analysis system canaggregate request performance information from many client devices untila statistically significant amount of performance data for a givencontent item (or group of content items) is obtained for the differentrequest paths. Statistical methods may then be used to determine whetherthe requests made directly to the origin result in better performancethan requests made via the intermediary, or vice-versa.

Additional aspects of the present disclosure relate to generatingrequest configuration information, such as rules or lists regardingwhich content is to be requested directly from the origin server and/orwhich content is to be requested via the intermediary. Using thestatistical analysis described above and in greater detail below, ananalysis system can generate lists of individual content items or groupsof content items (e.g., content hosted by individual domains) that areto be requested via the intermediary and/or which content items are tobe requested directly from the origin server. The list can be providedto the client devices or otherwise published so that it may be obtainedfor use by the client devices during subsequent content browsingsessions. For example, the analysis system may generate an updated listperiodically, such as every day or every week. Client devices can beconfigured to obtain the most recent list from the analysis system atthe beginning of each browsing session, at the end of each browsingsession, or at other scheduled or dynamically determined times. Theclient devices can use the request configuration information to selectbetween making a direct request or an indirect for a particular contentitem. By selecting between direct and indirect path options, a browseris selecting between two different content retrieval modes, one of whichpotentially offloads some of the content processing from the clientdevice.

Further aspects of the present disclosure relate to generating decisionmodels that client devices can use to determine which request path touse for each individual request, rather than tying the determination tospecific content items. To facilitate generation of such decisionmodels, data may be obtained from various client devices regardingrequest performance for particular content items, using particularrequest paths, under various conditions. For example, information suchas the current network bandwidth, current processing load at theintermediary system, characteristics of the requested content, and thelike may be obtained. Machine learning may be used to determine whichpieces of information are important with respect to request performance.Those pieces of information, or “features,” can be used to developclassification or regression models. The models can then be distributedto client devices for use in dynamically determining, on arequest-by-request basis, whether to request content directly fromcontent servers or via intermediary systems. The determinations can bemore granular than context-agnostic determinations, such as thecontent-specific determinations made using the request configurationinformation described above. For example, a client device usingclassification or regression models can request a particular contentitem directly from a content server under one set of circumstances(e.g., current metrics regarding network availability, intermediarysystem load, etc.) and via the intermediary system under another set ofcircumstances. Information regarding the current state, processing load,and capabilities of the intermediary system may be obtained from theintermediary system on a predetermined or dynamically determined basisin order to fully consider whether a request should be made via theintermediary under the present conditions. Such information about thecurrent capabilities and conditions experienced by the intermediaryand/or the client device may be referred to as contextual information.The decision model used by the client device may map particular outcomes(e.g., request performance predictions or request path determinations)to certain patterns of contextual information.

Still further aspects of the present disclosure relate to client devices(or browsers executing thereon) that are configured to developdevice-specific request configurations or models for determining requestpaths. The devices can collect information regarding performance ofprevious requests and the context in which those requests were made. Inorder to obtain a statistically significant and sufficiently diversedata set upon which to generate a request configuration or model, theclient devices may select request paths for particular content requestsat random until a satisfactory data set is obtained. After generating adecision model that can be used to determine which request path to use,the client device may make some requests using a non-preferred requestpath (e.g., a path other than the path indicated by the model under thepresent context). This can ensure that sufficient data is available toupdate or regenerate the model on a continuous, periodic, or ad hocbasis. In some embodiments, such non-preferred request path requests maybe designed to fill out areas of a data set that may be deficient. Forexample, rather than occasionally using a non-preferred request path fora particular request on a random or semi-random basis, the client devicemay determine the content items, request paths, and contextualinformation for which additional data is desirable.

Although aspects of the embodiments described in the disclosure willfocus, for the purpose of illustration, on specific statistical andmachine learning techniques for generating models or deciding amongrequest paths, one skilled in the art will appreciate that thetechniques disclosed herein may be applied to any number of services,processes, or applications. For example, statistical and/or machinelearning techniques may be used other than those described in detailhere. In addition, although the present disclosure focuses on anintermediary system that is configured to provide additional contentprocessing features and services to client devices that use it to obtaincontent, the techniques described herein may be used with otherintermediary systems, such as proxy servers. Furthermore, although theexamples in the present disclosure focus on selecting from two requestmodes (e.g., direct requests and indirect requests), the processesdescribed herein may be used to enable the client devices tointelligently select between three or more request modes. For example,the client devices may select between some or all of the followingrequest modes: (1) direct retrieval from the origin content server; (2)indirect retrieval in which the intermediary system pre-renders contentand provides pre-rendered binary versions of content; (3) indirectretrieval in which the intermediary system pre-renders content andprovides rendered versions in the form of images, video, or access via aremote communication protocol such as RDP; and (4) indirect retrieval inwhich the intermediary system does not pre-render content (e.g., theintermediary is a proxy server). As another example, the client devicemay be able to select between different intermediary systems that offerdifferent content processing or pre-rendering services. Various aspectsof the disclosure will now be described with regard to certain examplesand embodiments, which are intended to illustrate but not limit thedisclosure.

Networked Content Delivery Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates an example content delivery environment in whichfeatures can be implemented for generating and using requestconfiguration information and decision models. The content deliveryenvironment shown in FIG. 1 includes a client device 102, anintermediary system 104, and a content server 106. The various systemsmay communicate with each other via a communication network 110. Thenetwork 110 may be a publicly accessible network of linked networks,possibly operated by various distinct parties, such as the Internet. Inother embodiments, the network 110 may include a private network,personal area network, local area network, wide area network, cablenetwork, satellite network, cellular telephone network, etc. orcombination thereof, each with access to and/or from the Internet.

As will be appreciated by those of skill in the relevant art, anetworked content delivery environment may include any number ofdistinct client devices 102 and/or content servers 106. In addition,multiple (e.g., two or more) intermediary systems 104 may be used. Forexample, separate intermediary systems 104 may be located so that theyare close (in either a geographical or networking sense) to groups ofcurrent or potential client devices 102 or content servers 106. In sucha configuration, a client device 102 may request content via theintermediary system 104 to which it is closest, rather than all clientdevices 102 requesting content via a single intermediary system 104.

The client devices 102 can include a wide variety of computing devices,including personal computing devices, laptop computing devices, handheld computing devices, terminal computing devices, mobile devices(e.g., mobile phones, tablet computing devices, etc.), wireless devices,electronic readers, media players, and various other electronic devicesand appliances. A client device 102 may be configured with a browserapplication 120 to communicate via the network 110 with other computingsystems, such as the intermediary system 104 or content server 106, andto request, receive, process, and display content. The client device 102or browser application 120 may be associated with the intermediarysystem 104 or otherwise configured to exchange performance data with,and request content through, the intermediary system 104. The browserapplication 120 may include a data collection module 122 for collectingrequest performance data, and a decision module 124 for determiningwhether to request content directly from the content server 106 or viathe intermediary system 104. In some embodiments, the data collectionmodule 122 and/or the decision module 124 may not be integrated with thebrowser 120, but may instead be separate applications or components,such as browser add-ins or toolbars. In some embodiments, applicationsother than a browser 120 may include or use a decision module 124 orsome similar module to determine which request mode to use whenretrieving various content items. For example, content aggregators orother specialized content display applications for mobile devices (e.g.,Flipboard) may utilize the decision module 124.

The intermediary system 104 can be a computing system configured toretrieve content on behalf of the client device 102 (and any number ofother client devices). For example, the intermediary system 104 can be aserver or group of servers that may be accessed via the network 110. Insome embodiments, the intermediary system 104 may be a proxy server, asystem operated by an internet service provider (ISP), or some otherdevice or group of devices that retrieve content on behalf of clientdevices 102. In additional embodiments, the intermediary system 104provides content processing functionality, such as some or all of thecontent processing functionality typically performed by browserapplication executing on a client device. For example, the intermediarysystem 104 may obtain requested content from a content server 106,obtain additional items (e.g., images and executable code files)referenced by the requested content, execute code (e.g., JavaScript)that may be included in the content, render the content for display, andtransmit the pre-rendered, pre-executed content item to the clientdevice. By performing some or all of these and other operations at theintermediary system 104, the substantial computing resources andhigh-speed network connections typically available to network-basedserver systems may be leveraged to perform the operations much morequickly than would otherwise be possible on a client computing device102 with comparatively limited processing capability. One example of anintermediary system that provides remote content processingfunctionality is disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 8,577,963,issued on Nov. 5, 2013 and entitled “REMOTE BROWSING SESSION BETWEENCLIENT BROWSER AND NETWORK BASED BROWSER,” which is hereby incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

The intermediary system 104 can include various components, such as acontent retrieval module 140 to obtain content on behalf of clientdevices (and perform the additional processing operations describedabove), and a performance analysis module 142 to obtain performance andcontextual data and to generate request configuration information ordecision models based upon an analysis of the data. The intermediarysystem 104 may also include a number of data stores (not shown) to storeperformance and contextual data received from client devices, to storethe generated request configuration information and decision models, tocache content retrieved on behalf of the client devices, and the like.

The intermediary system 104 may be a single computing device, or it mayinclude multiple distinct computing devices, such as computer servers,logically or physically grouped together to collectively operate as anintermediary system. The components of the intermediary system 104 caneach be implemented as hardware, such as a server computing device, oras a combination of hardware and software. In addition, the modules andcomponents of intermediary system 104 can be combined on one servercomputing device or separated individually or into groups on severalserver computing devices. In some embodiments, the intermediary system104 may include additional or fewer components than illustrated in FIG.1

The content servers 106 can correspond to logical associations of one ormore computing devices for hosting content and servicing requests forthe hosted content over the network 110. For example, a content server106 can include a web server component corresponding to one or moreserver computing devices for obtaining and processing requests forcontent (such as content pages) from client devices 102, theintermediary system 104, or other devices or service providers. In someembodiments, one or more content servers 106 may be associated with aCDN service provider, an application service provider, etc.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, example data flows and interactionsbetween the client device 102, intermediary system 104, and contentserver 106 will be described. A user of a client device 102 may initiatea request for a content item, such as a content page, hosted by thecontent server 106. The decision module 124 may determine that therequest is to be made via the intermediary system 104. For example, thedecision module 124 may access request configuration information thatmaps content items or groups of content items to particular requestmodes or paths. Illustratively, there may be at least two differentrequest modes or paths: request the content directly from the contentserver 106, which may be referred to as a “direct request” forconvenience; and request the content via the intermediary system 104,which may be referred to as an “indirect request” for convenience (notethat a “direct request” may still be transmitted through any number ofswitches, routers, internet service providers, and the like; it is“direct” in the sense that it is not made to, addressed to, or otherwisetransmitted to an intermediary system instead of a content server). Inthe current example, the request configuration information may indicatethat this particular content item, or content items hosted by thisparticular content server 106, are to be made via the intermediarysystem 104 (e.g., using indirect requests). As another example, thedecision module 124 may use a decision model, such as a classificationor regression model, to determine which request mode to use. Thedecision module 124 may use contextual information, such as informationregarding current resource availability at the client device 102,intermediary system 104, or network 110, to make the request modedetermination. The request decision model used by the decision module124 may indicate which request mode is expected to provide the bestperformance (e.g., if the model is a classification model), or it mayproduce predictions regarding request performance for each request mode(e.g., if the model is a regression model). Based on the determinationmade by the decision module 124, the browser 120 may then initiate therequest for content via the intermediary system 104 at (1).

In response to the request at (1), the content retrieval module 140 ofthe intermediary system 104 may retrieve the request content for theclient device at (2). In some embodiments, the content retrieval module140 or some other module or component of the intermediary system 104 canprocess the content as described in greater detail above. At (3), theintermediary system 104 can provide the requested content to the clientdevice 102.

The browser 120 can perform any remaining processing to the receivedcontent and then display the content on the client device 102. The datacollection module 122 of the client device 102 can record requestperformance information about the request. For example, the datacollection module 122 can record the duration of time between initiationof the request and display of the received content. The data collectionmodule 122 may also record other information, such as contextualinformation regarding resource availability at the time of the request.

The user may subsequently initiate a request for the same content item,or a different content item from the same content server 106. Thedecision module 124 may determine that this time the request should bemade using a direct request (e.g., a request sent directly to thecontent server 106), rather than an indirect request (e.g., a requestsent to the intermediary system 104). For example, the context in whichthe request has been initiated (e.g., available computing resources atthe client device 102 or intermediary system 104, current networkconditions, etc.) may be different than during the prior requestdescribed above. This contextual information, when used by a requestdecision model, may produce a different result regarding the requestmode that should be used. As another example, updated requestconfiguration information may have been received from the intermediarysystem 104 or some other provider. The updated request configurationinformation may now indicate that this content item, or content hostedby the content server 106, is to be obtained using a direct request. Theclient device 102 may therefore retrieve the content from the contentserver 106 at (4). The browser 120 can process and display the contenton the client device 102. As described above with respect to the requestmade via the intermediary system 104, the data collection module 122 ofthe client device 102 can record request performance information aboutthe request.

Generation of Request Configuration Information Using StatisticalMethods

FIG. 2 illustrates example interactions between groups of clientdevices, an intermediary system, and multiple content servers. Theinteractions shown may be used to collect data for use by theintermediary system 104 (or a separate analysis system) for use indeveloping models and request configuration information. In someembodiments, as shown, client devices may be separated into distinctsubsets 202 a, 202 b and 202 c. Each subset can be configured to makerequests using different request modes and then record requestperformance information about the requests. The request performanceinformation can be provided to the intermediary system 104 (or aseparate analysis system) where it can be used to develop requestconfiguration information, as described in greater detail below.

Illustratively, one client device subset 202 a may be configured to useonly direct requests (e.g., to make all content requests directly to thecorresponding content servers 106 a-106 z). The client devices in thissubset 202 a can do so for some period of time, on a periodic oron-demand basis, as determined by the intermediary system 104 or someother entity. Performance and contextual information can be recorded andprovided to the intermediary system 104 on a per-request basis or as abatch according to some predetermined schedule or in response to someevent, such as a request from the intermediary system 104.

Another client device subset 202 b may be configured to make use of onlyindirect requests (e.g., to make all content requests through theintermediary system 104, rather than directly to the content servers 106a-106 z). Client devices in subset 202 b may make all requests throughthe intermediary system 104 on a periodic or on-demand basis asdetermined by the intermediary system 104 or some other entity. Similarto subset 202 a described above, the client devices in subset 202 b mayrecord performance and contextual information associated with therequests and provide such information to the intermediary system 104.

An additional client device subset 202 c may be configured to makeeither direct or indirect content requests. The client devices in subset202 c may use request configuration information or a decision model inorder to determine whether to request content through the intermediarysystem 104 or directly from the corresponding content servers 106 a-106z. In some embodiments, the client devices in subset 202 c may randomlydetermine whether to make a given request as a direct request or anindirect request. Similar to the subsets 202 a and 202 b describedabove, devices in subset 202 c can record performance and contextualinformation for the requests that the devices make, and provide theinformation to the intermediary system 104.

FIG. 3 illustrates a sample process 300 for generating requestconfiguration information that maps content items or groups toparticular request modes. Advantageously, an intermediary system 104 ora separate analysis system may perform the process 300 to generate (orupdate) request configuration information and then make the requestconfiguration information available to client devices 102.

The process 300 begins at block 302. At block 304, the system performingthe process 300 can obtain request performance data 304. As describedabove, client devices 102 may be configured to provide requestperformance data to the intermediary system 104. The request performancedata can indicate how fast each request was completed (e.g., fromrequest initiate until final content presentation). Performance datathat has been received from multiple client devices can be accessed foranalysis.

At block 306, request performance data can be aggregated based on thecontent requested and the request mode used to request the content. Forexample, request performance data may be received from thousands ormillions of client devices, reflecting millions of content requests forvarious content items. Depending upon how the request configurationinformation is to be generated, the request performance data can beaggregated on a per-content item basis, or according to groups ofcontent, such as content in a particular domain or hosted by aparticular content server 106. In addition, the performance dataassociated with each of the content items (or groups) may include datafor different request modes. The data can therefore be furtheraggregated according to request mode. For example, request performancedata for all direct requests for content item “A” can be aggregated inone group or bucket, request performance data for all indirect requestsfor content item “A” can be aggregated in a second bucket, requestperformance data for all direct requests for content item “B” can beaggregated in a third bucket, and so on.

At block 308, a statistical analysis may be performed on the requestperformance data groups aggregated above. The statistical analysis maybe performed to determine whether the content load times (or otherperformance metrics associated with the requests, such as renderingtimes) for some subset of content for which sufficient data is available(e.g., a content item or all content in a domain) is substantiallybetter for direct requests or indirect requests. In some embodiments,this determination may be made using a statistical hypothesis test todetermine whether the difference in performance between direct andindirect requests is statistically significant, or whether the observedperformance difference may have occurred by chance alone. If thedifference is statistically significant, then the request mode thatexhibited better performance may be chosen as the preferred request modefor future requests for the corresponding content. In some embodiments,if there is an unacceptably high likelihood that the difference inperformance is due to random chance alone (e.g., a greater than 1 in 20likelihood), then no preferred request mode may be chosen.

One method of determining whether the observed difference in performancebetween direct and indirect requests is statistically significant is touse a t-test, such as the Student's t-test or Welch's t-test. Thesetests compute a statistic t, which is then used to test the nullhypothesis that the difference between the groups is due to randomsampling.

Another method of determining whether the observed difference inperformance is statistically significant is to use the Mann-WhitneyU-test. The Mann-Whitney U-test is a non-parametric alternative to thet-test, and can have better statistical power when the distributions tobe tested are heavily skewed (e.g., long-tailed). When working withrequest performance data such as load time, the distributions of loadtimes for direct and indirect requests may be heavily skewed due to thepotentially great lengths of time needed to complete a request anddisplay obtained content. In such cases the Mann-Whitney U-test mayprovide better results. The Mann-Whitney U-test computes the statisticU, whose distribution under the null hypothesis is known.

The example statistical analyses described above are illustrative only,and are not intended to be limiting. In some embodiments, anyappropriate statistical method may be used, either alone or incombination with others, to determine whether the distributions ofrequest performance data (e.g., load times) are statisticallysignificant. The results can then be used to determine whether theperformance of indirect requests for a particular content item or groupis substantially better than the performance of direct requests, andvice-versa.

At decision block 310, the system performing the process 300 candetermine whether the results of the statistical test(s) performed aboveindicate that any performance difference between direct requests andindirect requests is statistically significant. If so, the process 300can proceed to block 312. Otherwise, the process 300 can proceed toblock 314.

At block 314, request configuration information can be updated toreflect the determination made above. The request configurationinformation may be a mapping or association of content items/groups torequest modes, such that the request mode determined to be statisticallybetter is mapped to or associated with the corresponding content item.In the example above, if it was determined that direct requests forcontent “A” perform statistically better than indirect requests, therequest configuration information may be updated to reflect that content“A” is to be requested directly. In some embodiments, the requestconfiguration information may be a list with entries for (1) contentitems for which a statistically significant difference has beenobserved, and (2) a corresponding indicator of which request mode is tobe used. In some embodiments, the request configuration information maybe limited to a list of only those content items/groups that are to berequested directly, or limited to a list of only content items/groupsthat are to be requested indirectly. Any appropriate method of listingcontent items and/or representing a mapping of request modes to contentitems may be used.

At decision block 314, the system executing the process 300 candetermine whether there are additional content subsets to be analyzed.In the present example, if content “A” has been analyzed and content “B”remains to be analyzed, the process 300 may return to block 308 for thestatistical analysis of request performance data for content “B.”Otherwise, the process 300 may proceed to block 316.

At block 316, the request configuration information may be published orotherwise made accessible to client devices 102, as described in greaterdetail below. The process 300 terminates at block 318.

In some embodiments, the process 300 may be executed on a periodicbasis, such as daily or weekly, so that client devices 102 may routinelyaccess updated request configuration information. In some embodiments,the process 300 may be executed in response to some event, such as anobserved change in request performance information from some portion ofclient devices, or on-demand as initiated by a system administrator.

The process 300 described above or some similar process may be used togenerate customized or personalized request configuration informationfor individual client devices or users. Illustratively, browse history(e.g., which URLs have been visited) may be obtained from a particularclient device. Request configuration information may be generated on aURL-specific basis (e.g., a mapping of request modes to individualcontent items) for each URL visited in a window of time (e.g., the past30 days), or some subset of the URLs visited in the window (e.g., the 10most-visited URLs). The statistical analysis used to generate thecustomized request configuration information may be applied to contentload time measures from the particular client device, or from thepopulation of client devices as described above. Domain-specific requestmodes described above may also be provided for use when a URL that isnot in the customized request configuration information is requested. Inone specific, non-limiting example, the default or “home” page offrequently visited domains may be mapped to a URL-specific request mode,while the remainder of content requests to those domains may default tothe domain-specific request mode.

With reference now to FIG. 4, a process 400 for conducting a browsersession using request configuration information will be described. Theprocess 400 may be executed by a browser 120 or some other module orcomponent of a client device 102. The browser 120 may use the process400 to obtain and use request configuration information that indicateswhich request mode to use when requesting various content items, asdescribed above.

The process 400 begins at block 402. At block 404, the browser 120 canobtain request configuration information. The request configurationinformation may be obtained from an intermediary system 104 or from someother source. Although FIG. 4 shows the request configurationinformation being obtained at the beginning of a browser session, therequest configuration information may be obtained at additional oralternate times. For example, the request configuration information maybe obtained in connection with a request for content that is made viathe intermediary system 104 (e.g., an indirect request), at the end of abrowser session, in response to a user request for updated information,at a time determined by the intermediary system 104, etc.

At decision block 406, the browser 120 can determine whether a requesthas been initiated. If so, the process 400 can proceed to block 408.Otherwise, such as after a predetermined timeout period or in responseto some other event (e.g., closing of the browser application 120), theprocess 400 can terminate at block 416.

At block 408, the decision module 124 or some other module or componentcan determine whether to request the content directly or indirectly. Thedetermination can be made based on the request configuration informationobtained above. For example, a user may initiate a request for content“A.” The request configuration information may indicate that content “A”is to be requested directly. Because the direct request is specified bythe request configuration information, this may be considered thepreferred request mode.

At block 410, the browser 120 can request the content according to thepreferred request mode determined above. In the present example, thebrowser 120 requests content “A” directly from the server hosting thecontent.

At block 412, the browser 120 can obtain and display the requestedcontent. Displaying the requested content may involve performingoperations including parsing, executing code, rendering, and the like asneeded. In the present example, because content “A” was retrieveddirectly from the content server, the browser 120 may perform some orall of these operations prior to display of the content. In anotherexample, if the content was retrieved indirectly via the intermediarysystem, the content may have been partially or completely processed bythe intermediary system as described in greater detail above. By usingthis request mode, processing may be at least partially offloaded fromthe client device and the browser 120 may therefore perform fewerprocessing options. Selection of this particular mode may therefore bebased at least partly on the processing capacity of the client device.

At block 414, the data collection module 122 or some other module orcomponent can record request performance data for the current request.Illustratively, the request performance data may include somemeasurement of loading time, such as the duration of time betweeninitiation of the request and display of the content. In someembodiments, other information may be recorded, such as contextualinformation, information regarding the processing that was performed ornot performed by the client device, and the like. Request performancedata may be transmitted to the intermediary system after every request,in a batch after some number of requests or period of time, etc. Theintermediary system can use the request performance information during asubsequent execution of the process 300 to generate updated requestconfiguration information.

Generation of Request Decision Models Using Machine Learning Methods

FIG. 5 illustrates example data flows between data sources andprocessing modules that may occur during generation of a decision modelfor determining request modes (also referred to herein as a “requestdecision model” for convenience). A request decision model, such as adecision tree, random forest, support vector machine (“SVM”) orregression model may be used by client devices to determine a preferredrequest mode on a request-by-request basis. Use of such models mayrequire some additional data processing and analysis for each request incomparison with the request configuration information descried above.Decision models can nevertheless provide better performance in somecases due to the additional data that is used. For example, the use ofrequest configuration information may only require determining whichrequest mode has been mapped to the requested content, or whether therequested content is in a direct/indirect request list. The simplicityprovided by this method can result in the preferred request mode beingdetermined more quickly than using a decision model that uses inputregarding current conditions at the client device, at the intermediarysystem, etc. in order to determine a preferred request mode. However,because the decision models consider more factors in determining apreferred request mode, the preferred request mode determinations canadjust to dynamically changing conditions which may have a substantialimpact on request performance.

Client devices 102 can provide client device performance and contextualdata 502 to the intermediary system 104 or some other analysis system.The client device performance and contextual data 502 may be recorded bydata collection module 122, similar to the recordation of requestperformance data described above. Client device performance andcontextual data 502 may include metrics and other information regardingthe state of the client device at the time of the request, load timesfor particular content items, and the like. For example, data regardingWi-Fi connection strength, distance from the client device to theintermediary system, distance from the client device to the contentserver, network latency from the client device to the intermediarysystem, network latency from the client device to the content server,network bandwidth, battery power level, CPU usage, disk usage, memoryusage, number of applications running, packet loss, congestion window,internet service provider, size of the requested content, whether therequested content was obtained from a CDN, and other data may berecorded. Other examples of client device-specific contextualinformation include device model, processor model, processor speed,browser, browser version, operating system, and the like.

The intermediary system 104 may record similar information regardingrequest fulfillment execution, including information about the state ofthe intermediary system at the time of request fulfillment, load timesfor particular content items, and the like. The intermediary system 104may store such data as intermediary performance and contextual data 504in a data store 520. Illustratively, intermediary performance andcontextual data 504 may include data regarding the distance from theintermediary system to the client device, distance from the intermediarysystem to the content server, network latency from the intermediarysystem to the client device, network latency from the intermediarysystem to the content server, network bandwidth, CPU usage at theintermediary system, disk usage at the intermediary system, memory usageat the intermediary system, packet loss, congestion window, internetservice provider, size of the requested content, whether the requestedcontent was obtained from a CDN, and the like.

To facilitate generation of a classification model as described below, alabel generator 530 may generate labels for training data derived fromthe client device performance and contextual data 502 and intermediaryperformance and contextual data 504. Labels are used to indicate thepreferred request mode for a particular portion of training data, suchas contextual data for a single request. However, one problem withgenerating labels for data regarding actual requests is that the requestwas made either directly or indirectly, but not both. Therefore, thereis typically no corresponding data point for another request modeagainst which to determine the preferred request mode for theconditions. For example, a client device 102 may record data regardingexecution of a request for content “A” made directly to the contentserver. However, there is no data regarding a request for content “A”made via the intermediary system 104 at the same time, under the sameconditions. In order to circumvent this limitation in the availabledata, the label generator 530 may be configured to infer or otherwisedetermine labels based on a variety of criteria.

One technique for inferring, generating, or otherwise determining labelsis to calculate a lower and upper percentile threshold for observed loadtime. For example, if a particular request has a load time faster thanthe 30^(th) percentile (e.g., a load time that is less than 70% of allobserved load times or observed load times for the particular contentitem), then the label generator 530 may determine that the request modeused for the request, whether direct or indirect, was correct and labelthe data accordingly. Similarly, if the load time is slower than the70^(th) percentile (e.g., a load time that is greater than 70% of allobserved load times or observed load times for the particular contentitem), then the label generator 530 may determine that the request modeused for the request was incorrect and label the data accordingly. Forload times between the 30^(th) and 70^(th) percentiles, the data can beomitted from the training data set, or otherwise labeled with a thirdlabel that is neither “correct” nor “incorrect” (e.g., “not sure”).Usage of the 30^(th) and 70^(th) percentiles is illustrative only; insome embodiments, other percentiles may be used (e.g., 10^(th) and90^(th)).

Another technique for generating labels is to analyze, for a givencontent item, only data from devices which have requested the item bothdirectly and indirectly within some time range. For example, asdescribed above and in greater detail below, some devices may randomlychoose the “non-preferred” request mode in order to maintain up-to-datedata for analysis. As another example, some devices may be instructed tomake requests both directly and indirectly for a period of time (e.g.,alternate request modes for all requests over the course of a day or aweek). In these and other examples, data for both request modes may beobtained from a single client device, and therefore a “correct” or“incorrect” label may be reliably determined on a device-by-devicebasis.

Yet another technique is to cluster contextual and performance databased on particular features of the data. A common correct label maythen be identified based upon the clustered data. For example, ifmultiple client devices have requested content under similar conditions,as determined by the contextual data associated with the request, thenthe request data may be clustered based on the similar conditions. Acomparison of load times for direct requests and indirect requests forindividual content items in the cluster may be made. Labels can then begenerated based on the data associated with the different request modes.

The feature selector 540 can obtain the labeled data 506 and performfeature selection on it. Feature selection is the process of identifyingwhich subset of features (e.g., metrics or other data points) in a bodyof data are most useful for a particular purpose, such as predictingloading times. By performing feature selection on the labeled data 540,the individual features that most affect loading times, both positivelyand negatively, can be determined (e.g., which features tend to beassociated with “incorrect” labels and which features tend to beassociated with “correct” labels). The selected features can then beused to train a model for use in predicting loading times or identifyingthe correct request mode when presented with unlabeled data.

One method of performing feature selection uses the Relief algorithm toremove irrelevant features from a data set. Relevance values can beassigned to features by treating samples (data associated withindividual content requests) as points in the feature space. For eachsample, the algorithm finds the nearest “hit” (another sample of thesame class) and “miss” (a sample of a different class), and adjusts therelevance value of each feature according to the square of the featuredifference between the sample and the hit and miss. The K-meansalgorithm may be used as a redundancy filter by clustering featuresaccording to how well they correlate to each other. When featureclusters are discovered, only the features with the highest relevancescores (as calculated using the Relief algorithm) are kept; the otherfeatures in the cluster are removed from the feature set.

The model generator 550 can obtain the labeled data 506 and the selectedfeatures 508 in order to generate a request decision model for use byclient devices 102. The model generator 550 may include a classificationmodel generator 552 and/or a regression model generator 554, dependingon the desired output model type. The classification model generator 552may generate a request classification model that can be used by a clientdevice to determine whether a particular request should be made directlyor indirectly under certain conditions which correspond to the featuresselected above. In some embodiments, the model may be a decisiontree-based classification model, such as a random forest, J48, LADtree,or MSP. The regression model generator 554 may generate a requestregression model that predicts load times for direct requests andindirect requests under certain conditions which correspond to thefeatures selected above. The client device 102 would then use therequest mode that corresponds to the best load time prediction.

The model 510 generated by the model generator 550 can then be providedto the client devices 102, in a manner similar to the publishing ofrequest configuration information described above.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process 600 for conducting a browser session usinga request decision model, such as the model 510 described above. Theprocess 600 may be executed by browsers 120 a, 120 b or some othermodules or components of client devices 102 a, 102 b shown in FIG. 7.FIG. 7 illustrates interactions and data flows that may occur whenclient devices execute the process 600. The browsers 120 a, 120 b mayperform the process 600 to use a request decision model 510 thatindicates which request mode to use under various conditions.

The process 600 begins at block 602. At block 604, the browsers 120 a,120 b or other modules or components, such as data collection modules,can monitor local performance and contextual information. Metricsregarding the current state of the browsers 120 a, 120 b and/or clientdevices 102 a, 102 b can be periodically or continuously determined in abackground process so that when a request is initiated, the metrics areavailable for use by the request decision model 510. This can reduce oreliminate the need to determine metrics regarding the system state atthe time a request is processed.

At block 606, browsers 120 a, 120 b or other modules or components canexchange performance and contextual information with the intermediarysystem 104. Metrics regarding the current state of the intermediarysystem 104 and other information, as described above, can beperiodically or continuously obtained (e.g., actively retrieved orpassively received) from the intermediary system 104 so that when arequest is initiated, the metrics are available for use by the requestdecision model 510, similar to monitoring the local performance andcontextual information above. In addition, the browsers 120 a, 120 b mayprovide local performance and contextual information to the intermediarysystem 104 so that the intermediary system 104 can use the informationwhen updating the request decision model 510.

At decision block 608, the browsers 120 a, 120 b can determine whether arequest has been initiated. If so, the process proceeds to block 610.Otherwise, such as after a timeout period or in response to some otherevent, the process 600 terminates at block 622.

As shown in FIG. 7, two client devices 102 a and 102 b exchangeperformance and contextual information with the intermediary system 104at [A] and [1], respectively. At [B] and [2], users of the clientdevices 102 a and 102 b, respectively, can initiate a request forcontent hosted by the content server 106.

At block 610 of FIG. 6, the decision modules 124 a and 124 b can extractcurrent features associated with the local device 102 a and 102 b.Feature extraction is the process of obtaining data relevant to aparticular problem or analysis from a data set. In the present example,features may be extracted from the local performance and contextualinformation monitored at 604, above. In some embodiments, featureextraction may be performed as part of, or in connection with, themonitoring process above so that it does not need to be performed inresponse to a request, further saving time and reducing processing loadon the client device.

At block 612, the decision modules 124 a and 124 b can extract currentfeatures associated with the intermediary system 104. In the presentexample, features may be extracted from the performance and contextualinformation obtained from the intermediary system 104, above. In someembodiments, feature extraction may be performed as part of, or inconnection with, the data exchange process to save time and reduceprocessing load.

At block 614, the decision modules 124 a and 124 b can determine apreferred request mode for content using the request decision model 510.The request decision model 510 may take as input data regarding thecurrent request (e.g., domain, actual content item requested, etc.), thefeatures for the local device state and performance extracted above, thefeatures for the intermediary system state and performance extractedabove, and any other relevant data to determine the preferred requestmode.

As shown in FIG. 7, users of the client devices 102 a and 102 may haveinitiated requests for the same content, hosted by the same contentserver 106, at substantially the same time. Yet the decision modules 124a and 124 b may determine different preferred request modes at [C] and[3], respectively. For example, the network connection between clientdevice 102 a and the intermediary system 104 may be experiencingunacceptably high latency, the client device 102 a may be substantiallycloser to the content server 106 than to the intermediary system 104, orthe like. As a result, the decision module 124 a may output a preferredrequest mode of “direct request.” The request decision model 510 mayhave been trained on data that caused it to learn that under suchcircumstances the direct request will produce the best performance. Incontrast, as shown, the decision module 124 b of the other client device102 b may output a preferred request mode of “indirect request.” Forexample, the network connection between the client device 102 b and theintermediary system 104 may be extremely fast, the client device 102 bmay be substantially closer to the intermediary system 104, etc.

At block 620, the browsers 120 a, 120 b can obtain and display therequested content. Displaying the requested content may involveperforming operations including parsing, executing code, rendering, andthe like as needed. In the present example, because browser 120 aretrieved the content directly from the content server 106, the browser120 a may perform some or all of these operations prior to display ofthe content. However, because browser 120 b retrieved the contentindirectly via the intermediary system 104, the content may have beenpartially or completely processed by the intermediary system 104 asdescribed in greater detail above. The browser 120 b may thereforeperform fewer processing options.

Generation of Request Configurations and Decision Models at ClientDevices

FIG. 8 illustrates a process 800 for obtaining a statisticallysignificant or otherwise satisfactory amount of data with which togenerate or update request configuration information or a requestdecision model at a client device. Advantageously, the requestconfiguration information/decision model can be based on data directlyrelated to request processing and load times on the client device 102that will use the request configuration information/decision model,potentially providing more accurate results for the particular clientdevice 102 than the multi-device techniques described above. In someembodiments, the process 800 may be performed by browsers 120 which havenot yet obtained or developed a request configuration or requestdecision model, and also by browsers 120 which have well-developedrequest configurations or decision models.

The process 800 begins at block 802. At block 804, a user of a clientdevice 102 may initiate a request for a content item. For example, theuser may initiate a request for content “A” hosted by a content server106.

At block 806, the decision module 124 or some other module or componentof the client device 102 may randomly determine the request mode (e.g.,direct or indirect) for the current request. The random determinationmay be based on a random number generator or some other randomizingalgorithm or process. By randomly determining the request mode andrecording performance information about the randomly determinedrequests, the client device 102 may obtain a statistically significantor otherwise satisfactory amount of data for each request mode that canthen be used to generate or modify a request configuration or requestdecision model. In some embodiments, rather than randomly determiningthe request mode for every request at block 806, the decision module 124may instead alternate request modes or use some other technique toensure variety with respect to request mode.

At block 808, the content can be requested according to the request modedetermined above. In the present example, if the decision module 124determined to request content “A” directly, the request for content “A”may be transmitted directly to the content server 106 associated withcontent “A.”

At block 810, the data collection module 122 or some other module orcomponent of the client device 102 may record performance data (e.g.,content load time measurements) associated with the current request. Theperformance data may be stored in some data store of the client device102, transmitted to the intermediary system 104, or otherwise stored forfuture use. In some embodiments, the data collection module 122 may alsorecord contextual information regarding the state of the client device102 at the time of the request.

At block 812, a statistical analysis, such as one of the analysesdescribed above, may be performed on the recorded performance dataand/or contextual data. Such an analysis may be performed if the browser120 is configured to use request configuration information (e.g., a listof content items mapped to preferred request modes, or some otherlisting as described above). If the browser 120 is configured to use arequest decision model, then the data may be labeled and used to trainthe model.

At block 814, the browser 120 can determine whether a new preferredrequest mode has been determined when using request configurationinformation, or whether an update to the request decision model may bemade when using a request decision model. If the requestconfiguration/decision model can be updated, the process 800 proceeds toblock 816. Otherwise, the process 800 may return to block 804.

At block 816, the update determined above can be applied to the requestconfiguration information for the content item (or to the requestdecision model, as appropriate).

At block 818, the user can initiate a request for the same content item(or content from the same domain). In the present example, the userinitiates another request for content “A.”

At block 820, the decision module 124 can determine the request mode forthe current request with a random chance of using the non-preferredrequest mode. Typically, the decision module 124 will choose thepreferred request mode in order to obtain the benefits of the previousanalysis. However, at random times, the non-preferred request mode canbe chosen so that the client device 102 can record performanceinformation when using the non-preferred request mode. This informationmay be used to verify the proper preferred request mode has beendetermined, or to change the preferred request mode based on changingconditions.

At block 822, the browser 120 can request the content according to therequest mode determined above. At block 824, performance data and/orcontextual data regarding the request may be recorded for the requestmode used at block 822.\

At block 826, the browser 120 or some other module or component mayanalyze the performance data to determine whether the preferred requestmode should be changed. For example, the statistical analysis describedabove can be performed again to determine whether to update the requestconfiguration information. In some embodiments, more recent data may beweighted more heavily in the statistical analysis than older data. Insome embodiments, data older than some threshold amount of time may bedeleted or excluded from the statistical analysis.

At decision block 828, the browser 120 or some other module or componentcan determine whether the preferred request mode is to be modified. Ifso, the process 800 returns to block 816. Otherwise, the process 800returns to block 818.

Terminology

Depending on the embodiment, certain acts, events, or functions of anyof the processes or algorithms described herein can be performed in adifferent sequence, can be added, merged, or left out altogether (e.g.,not all described operations or events are necessary for the practice ofthe algorithm). Moreover, in certain embodiments, operations or eventscan be performed concurrently, e.g., through multi-threaded processing,interrupt processing, or multiple processors or processor cores or onother parallel architectures, rather than sequentially.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, routines, andalgorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. The described functionality can beimplemented in varying ways for each particular application, but suchimplementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the disclosure.

Moreover, the various illustrative logical blocks and modules describedin connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implementedor performed by a machine, such as a general purpose processor device, adigital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform thefunctions described herein. A general purpose processor device can be amicroprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor device can be acontroller, microcontroller, or state machine, combinations of the same,or the like. A processor device can include electrical circuitryconfigured to process computer-executable instructions. In anotherembodiment, a processor device includes an FPGA or other programmabledevice that performs logic operations without processingcomputer-executable instructions. A processor device can also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration. Although described herein primarily with respect todigital technology, a processor device may also include primarily analogcomponents. For example, some or all of the signal processing algorithmsdescribed herein may be implemented in analog circuitry or mixed analogand digital circuitry. A computing environment can include any type ofcomputer system, including, but not limited to, a computer system basedon a microprocessor, a mainframe computer, a digital signal processor, aportable computing device, a device controller, or a computationalengine within an appliance, to name a few.

The elements of a method, process, routine, or algorithm described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodieddirectly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processordevice, or in a combination of the two. A software module can reside inRAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory,registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium. An exemplary storagemedium can be coupled to the processor device such that the processordevice can read information from, and write information to, the storagemedium. In the alternative, the storage medium can be integral to theprocessor device. The processor device and the storage medium can residein an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. In the alternative,the processor device and the storage medium can reside as discretecomponents in a user terminal.

For example, the processes described with respect to FIGS. 3, 4, 6 and 8may be embodied in a set of executable program instructions stored onone or more non-transitory computer-readable media, such as one or moredisk drives or solid-state memory devices, of the client device or acomputing system with which the intermediary system is associated. Whena process is initiated, the executable program instructions can beloaded into memory, such as RAM, and executed by one or more processorsof the client device or computing system. In some embodiments, thecomputing system may include multiple computing devices, such asservers, and the processes may be executed by multiple servers, seriallyor in parallel.

Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “could,”“might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically statedotherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, isgenerally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, whileother embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/orsteps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended toimply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required forone or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarilyinclude logic for deciding, with or without other input or prompting,whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to beperformed in any particular embodiment. The terms “comprising,”“including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are usedinclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additionalelements, features, acts, operations, and so forth. Also, the term “or”is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so thatwhen used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or”means one, some, or all of the elements in the list.

Disjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, Z,”unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with thecontext as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may beeither X, Y, or Z, or any combination thereof (e.g., X, Y, and/or Z).Thus, such disjunctive language is not generally intended to, and shouldnot, imply that certain embodiments require at least one of X, at leastone of Y, or at least one of Z to each be present.

While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointedout novel features as applied to various embodiments, it can beunderstood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in theform and details of the devices or algorithms illustrated can be madewithout departing from the spirit of the disclosure. As can berecognized, certain embodiments described herein can be embodied withina form that does not provide all of the features and benefits set forthherein, as some features can be used or practiced separately fromothers. The scope of certain embodiments disclosed herein is indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a server system comprisingone or more hardware-based computer processors, the server systemprogrammed to at least: obtain content load time measurements for aplurality of content requests, wherein at least a first portion of thecontent requests were made from computing devices in a first group ofclient devices to a content server without going through an intermediarysystem that obtains content from content servers on behalf of clientdevices, and wherein at least a second portion of the content requestswere made from computing devices in a second group of client devices tothe intermediary system; determine whether a difference between a firstdistribution of content load time measurements for the first portion ofcontent requests and a second distribution of content load timemeasurements for the second portion of content requests satisfies astatistical criterion; in response to determining that the differencesatisfies the statistical criterion, generate request configurationinformation indicating a preferred request mode for at least one contentrequest to the content server, wherein the preferred request modecorresponds to one of a group of request modes comprising: a firstrequest mode in which a content request, for a first version ofrequested content, is made to the content server without going throughthe intermediary system; and a second request mode in which a contentrequest, for a second version of requested content, is made to theintermediary system, wherein the intermediary system retrieves the firstversion of requested content from the content server and generates thesecond version of requested content by at least partially pre-renderingthe first version of requested content; wherein the preferred requestmode is associated with lower content load time measurements than anon-preferred request mode; and provide the request configurationinformation to a plurality of client devices to enable at least aportion of the plurality of client devices to improve content loadtimes.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the server system is furtherprogrammed to generate request configuration information indicatingpreferred request modes for a plurality of content servers.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the preferred request mode applies to asingle content item hosted by the content server.
 4. Acomputer-implemented method comprising: as implemented by a serversystem comprising one or more computing devices, obtaining, by theserver system from a plurality of client devices, content load timemeasurements associated with content requests to a content server,wherein at least a first portion of the content requests were made fromcomputing devices in a first group of client devices to a content serverwithout going through an intermediary system that obtains content fromcontent servers on behalf of client devices, and wherein at least asecond portion of the content requests were made from computing devicesin a second group of client devices to the intermediary system;determining, by the server system, a preferred request mode for contentrequests to the content server based at least partly on a statisticalanalysis of the content load time measurements, wherein the preferredrequest mode corresponds to one of a group of request modes comprising:a first request mode in which a request, for a first version ofrequested content, is made to the content server without going throughthe intermediary system; and a second request mode in which a request,for a second version of requested content, is made to the intermediarysystem which retrieves the first version of requested content from thecontent server and generates the second version of requested content byat least partially pre-rendering the first version of requested content;wherein the preferred request mode is associated with lower content loadtime measurements than a non-preferred request mode; and generating, bythe server system, request configuration information associated with thecontent server based at least partly on the preferred request mode. 5.The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprisingdetermining a preferred request mode for content requests to each of aplurality of content servers.
 6. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 4, wherein the preferred request mode is associated with allcontent requests to the content server.
 7. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 4, wherein the preferred request mode is associated withcontent requests for a particular content item hosted by the contentserver.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, furthercomprising providing the request configuration information to aplurality of client devices.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim4, further comprising: receiving additional content load timemeasurements from the plurality of client devices; and generatingupdated request configuration information based at least partly on theadditional content load time measurements.
 10. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 9, further comprising providing the updated requestconfiguration information on a predetermined schedule.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising providing theupdated request configuration information in response to an event. 12.The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the event comprisesone of: (1) receiving a request from a client device, or (2) identifyinga change, in content load time measurements associated with the contentserver, satisfying a statistical criterion.
 13. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 4, further comprising generating request configurationinformation customized for a specific client device, the requestconfiguration information comprising a preferred request mode for a URLpreviously requested by the specific client device.
 14. A non-transitorycomputer storage medium having stored thereon a browser moduleconfigured to cause a client computing device to execute a processcomprising: receiving, by the client computing device, requestconfiguration information indicating a preferred request mode to use forrequests for content hosted by a content server, wherein the preferredrequest mode corresponds to one of a group of request modes comprising:a first request mode in which a request for a first version of requestedcontent is made to the content server without going through anintermediary system that obtains content from content servers on behalfof client devices; and a second request mode in which a request for asecond version of requested content is made to the intermediary systemwhich provides the second version of requested content at leastpartially pre-rendered from the first version of requested content,wherein the preferred request mode is associated with lower content loadtime measurements than a non-preferred request mode; receiving, by theclient computing device, user input corresponding to a request forcontent hosted by the content server; and determining, by the clientcomputing device, whether to request the content from the content serverwithout going through the intermediary system or via the intermediarysystem which retrieves the content from the content server on behalf ofthe client computing device, wherein the determining is based at leastpartly on the request configuration information.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer storage medium of claim 14, wherein the browser modulecomprises one of: an application, a browser toolbar, or a browseradd-in.
 16. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 14,wherein the request configuration information further indicates adifferent preferred request mode to use for requests for content hostedby a different content server.
 17. The non-transitory computer storagemedium of claim 14, the process further comprising: requesting a contentitem using the second request mode; obtaining pre-rendered version ofthe requested content item, the pre-rendered version comprising an imageof at least a portion of the requested content item generated by theintermediary system; and displaying the pre-rendered version on theclient computing device.
 18. The non-transitory computer storage mediumof claim 14, the process further comprising transmitting, to theintermediary system, a content load time measurement associated withexecution of the request for content hosted by the content server. 19.The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 14, the processfurther comprising: receiving updated request configuration information;and using the updated request configuration information in response to asubsequent request initiated by a user of the client computing device.20. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 14, the processfurther comprising receiving, from the intermediary system, contentresponsive to a request to the intermediary system, wherein the contentis at least partially pre-rendered by the intermediary system.
 21. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising the intermediary system, whereinthe intermediary system generates a pre-rendered version of requestedcontent in response to a request transmitted by a client device usingthe second request mode, and wherein the pre-rendered version comprisesat least one of: an image of the requested content, a video of therequested content, or a view of the requested content on a remotedesktop of the intermediary system.